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Operation Dusk's End
Operation Dusk End (H; Actzoine Manstahalt) was the codename for the Heartlandian military operation which resulted in the destruction of Solomon, the capital city of the country of Norta, and the heart of the United Republic. On the 21st of October in ERA 10-20, shortly before morning, a massive explosion ripped through the city, leaving a two mile wide crater, and instantly killing 16,000,000 people, approximately 60% of the city's total population. Whilst Operation Dusk End's primary goal was the destruction of the city, Heartlandian Commanders hoped that during the confusion ensuing after the explosion, a large scale military takeover of Norta and possibly the entire Republic could be achieved. However, in the aftermath of the explosion, the side effects of using such a devastating and misunderstood weapon lead to one of the largest cases of friendly-inflicted casualties in the history of the Heartland Alliance. The operation was split into two parts; Dusk being the orders for the destruction of the city, and End being the military action that followed. Background Ever since its occupation by the United Forces sometime in ERA -01-00, the leaders of Heartland sought the destruction of the United Republic. During the Heartlandian Revolution in ERA 09-00, Alex Stone, leader of the uprising promised that "The invaders cities will be reduced to ash, just as they did to ours". However, 100 years after the revolution, Heartland was no closer to fulfilling that promise. An international stalemate, lasting over a millennium, had stalled Heartland's hopes for revenge. In the wake of Operation Stranglehold in ERA 10-11, it seemed that this was how its was going to be forever. But the Heartlandians were on the verge of a discovery that could change everything - the culmination over half a century of work. A weapon of unparalleled power. Origins Alex Poice Element 109, the primary energy source responsible for the destruction of Solomon, was discovered in ERA 09-10. Alex Poice, a Heartlandian physicist and engineer, was the first to recognise the potential power that E109 had locked in its molecular and atomic structure, as evidenced on his paper in ERA 09-24. Only small amounts of the element were available due to its rareness, but before that point it had found to have little use. Alex discovered that not only did the element passively emit gamma and microwaves, but that under the proper chemical stimulus it could produce large amounts of heat. During this reaction, Alex Poice observed that vast amounts of previously unobtainable energy stored up in the substance were used up in an instant, generating immense heat and producing dangerous levels of Gamma wave radiation. Despite Poice's intrigue, his failing health and technological limitations meant his work could go no further. He died in ERA 09-40, leaving his 2 year old son without a father. Polau Poice Polau Poice vowed to continue his father's work. Due to Alex Poice's contributions to Heartland's scientific advancement, the Poice family were quite well-off and highly respected by the state. This allowed Polau to assemble a scientific team in ERA 09-70 for the study and extraction of E109. Mining sites in Heartland, North Zicia and Miles Island provided over 20,000 tonnes of E109 during the 40 years they were running. Meanwhile, Polau and his team further advanced the understanding of E109, and its potential use as a power source, or weapon. By ERA 09-92, huge advances had been made, but the Heartlandian Government grew restless. They had devoted a massive amount of funding and manpower to the project, but had so far recieved nothing in return. Up until that point, Polau's work had been top secret, and only a few officials in the government knew of the project. That was until ERA 09-93, when a need for extra funding was taken to the high parliment. At that point, Polau feared that details of his work would be picked up by enemy intelligence services, who may use it to develop their own weapons. This frustration over the government's incompotence lead to him quitting the project and migrating with his family to a rural area of Southern Heartland. Far from civilisation, Polau reasoned that if such weapons of mass destruction were used by enemy forces, that his family would be safe. Without the genius of Polau and the backing of the Heartland Government, work on E109, which had been dubbed the Sunrise Project'' (H; Actzione Dusta), apparently named after Polau had a vivid dream about the use of his work to build weapons that ushered in a new age, had ground to a near halt. The vast amounts of E109 amassed sat in storage deep in exhausted mineshafts. In the years following, Polau raised his only son, Stanstev, who was born deaf and crippled as a result of genetic mutation possibly caused by the gamma radiation emitted by the E109 that Polau worked with, and taught him about his work and science in isolation from the rest of the world. However, the Sunrise Project was to be resurrected by mysterious means. In ERA 09-99, Heartlandian officials were persuaded by a group of unknown individuals to resume work on the Sunrise Project. While they agreed to fund the project, they lacked the genius needed to continue Polau and his father's work. Curiously, over the next two years, scientists from Heartland and even enemy countries were brought in to further the project. The unknown individuals, who came to be known informally within the governement as the ''Zeigurbana, or Odd Soldiers, had apparently conducted operations to locate potential scientists and persuade, threaten or otherwise provide the means for them to aid in the project. They were believed to have been behind the kidnappings and defections of relatively high-profile scientists of enemy nations, and somehow placated them to work on the project. With most of the pieces coming together, only one man was missing - Polau Poice. Stanstev Poice On the 8th May in ERA 10-03, Stanstev Poice, the disabled son of Polau Poice, was visited by one of the Odd Soldiers. Calling himself Lasser Arkady, he explained that he had been searching for Polau for the last 2 years, and requested that he rejoin the project his father had started. Unbeknownst to him, Polau Poice had died of cancer in ERA 09-97, and Stanstev, now 24 years old, had been left to care for his Mother, who was also of declining health. Lasser, who learned that Stanstev knew of his father's work, made an offer that Stanstev himself return to civilisation and head the project, and in return his mother would recieve the best medical help in the country, usually afforded to only the most important people of the nation. Stanstev, although cautioned by his father about the dangers of his work, agreed, and was flown to the Northern province of Arctika, where an old mine, known as Commamats, had been converted into a research station, ready for use by the Sunrise Project scientists. Stanstev worked on the project at Commamats from ERA 10-03 to 10-08. During this time, he and his team, now with extensive funding, were responsible for the advancement to the weapon stage of the project. The scientists, through countless experiments, were able to produce Purified E109, which essentially concentrated the energy potential of a huge mass of E109 into a greatly compressed volume. The handling of this new Purified E109, known as simply as Poice, was extremely dangerous, and it was becoming increasingly clear that the Commamats facility could not accommodate a project that was growing more hazardous by the day. This resulted in the relocation of the project to Gratsmaz, a newly constructed facility designed specifically to house the Sunrise Project. Stanstev and his team moved there in ERA 10-09, and continued their work on the material for producing a weapon of mass destruction. Location Diamond Attack On the 2nd of June in ERA 10-10, Gratsmaz came under attack by United Forces Paratroopers. The United Republic, who did not know of the Sunrise Device, believed the research facility was actually a powerful communications base, working to decode the UF's secretive radio traffic. In the early hours of the morning, they descended on the facility, destroying a number of security outposts before breaching the base. In order to prevent the discovery of the Sunrise Device by the United Forces, much of the data and records on the project were destroyed. As the attackers advanced through the underground facility, scientists were rounded up and executed by Heartland Gvardia in a desperate attempt to keep the project a secret. Stanstev, who witnessed his friends and colleagues being shot dead by their protectors, could do little to escape due to his inability to walk. As a fire raged through the underground corridors, he found himself trapped in a smoke-filled room, unable to see or move. Across the room, a door opened. Through the smoke marched Lasser Arkaday, who then proceeded to lift Stanstev and his wheelchair from the room, down a corridor and into a passage that was clear of smoke. Stanstev, assuming Lasser was with the Gvardia and had come to dispose of him too, pleaded for his life. Astonishingly, Lasser confided in him that he was not assosiated with the Heartland government in any way, but urged him not to take any avenging action. He then handed him a computer data drive, which contained all of the documentation and research even produced in the decades of work on the project; the files, which were the utmost of secrecy, had somehow been allowed to be copied by the Odd Soldiers, a feat which left Stanstev in utter disbelief. In his final moments before disappearing, Arkadey apparently told Stanstev - "Now is not the time for action. Now is the time for preservation. Continue your work, it will help you more than you know. And believe me, you and your colleagues shall have your revenge. I promise." He then wheeled Stanstev to an escape elevator before disappearing into the smoke. Stanstev, still clutching the data drive, took the lift to the nearby mine, where army helicopters, carrying surviving personnel, were preparing to lift off. Stanstev was then safely evacuated from the facility. The Final Preparations Stanstev followed Arkady's instructions, and thanks to the recovered data drive, was able to put the finishing touches to his weapon design in ERA 10-19. Called the Sunrise Device, the single bomb was the culmination of 75 years of research by 3 generations of his family. With only access to one bomb, a test of the weapon was not possible, however scientists had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the energy released during the activation of the Sunrise Device would produce a fireball large enough to destroy at least a large portion of a city. In August ERA 10-20, with his work done, the bomb was handed over from Stanstev to the Heartland Armed Forces. Stanstev, exhausted and sick due to his lifelong proximity to E109, and with no family left after the death of his Mother earlier that year, left the project indefinitely. With the bomb finally at the disposal of the Heartlandian Government, the long awaited pay-off was at hand. Operation Dusk Selecting a Target When the weapon was completed, Heartlandian high command worked on selecting a target. Whilst the bomb was predicted to be capable of destroying a city, several non-civil targets were suggested. The Imperial Computer Intelligence Command in rural Central Country, one of the most protected military sites in the world, was believed to house some of, if not the, most powerful computing systems of any nation, with important tasks such as geological tracking, communications, radio interception and codebreaking all controlled from one location. Although the underground bunker is believed to be impenetrable by conventional munitions, a Supernuclear blast from an E109 bomb could completely knock out the data network of the Great Empire, preventing communication between military units and enabling a widespread invasion by Heartland. Other targets suggested were the United Force's Radar Centre, The Drebland Military Science Research Centre and the Great Imperial Power Hub. One researcher even theorised that they could poison the water supply of the Great Empire by detonating the bomb in the large underground rivers below the surface of Central Country. Taking all these high-value targets into consideration and picking one was a point of conflict for High-Command. They could choose only one, and because the Sunrise Device was purposefully developed to destroy a city, the target was to be used against one. The large cities of the United Republic and the Great Empire were painstakingly analysed based a great number of factors - Population, Size, Materiel Production etc. Finally, on the 17th of August 10-20, the city of Solomon was selected. Following their failed seizing of the city in ERA 10-10, the urge to take revenge was overwhelming, and the die was cast. Build up In September 10-20, the Armed Forces of Heartland were massed on the Eastern Borders in secret, ready to push into the United Republic, the result of years of production and military organization in preparation for the event. Along the line, Troops prepared for a Total-War, completely unaware of the Sunrise Device and its proposed target. Heartland leaders had elected to keep the soldiers in the dark in case the enemy learned of the bomb. In a step which would prove fatal later on, Heartland troops were not educated on or supplied for fighting in the aftermath of a supernuclear explosion. The truth was, not even the scientists building the bomb knew quite for sure what the after effects would be, as they had only done extremely scaled-down tests. An actual detonation of a Sunrise Device on this scale had never occurred. The date of the detonation was set for the 10th October. A high-altitude strategic bomber accompanied by a scientific observation plane would fly over Solomon at Dusk and drop the bomb. The ground-based forces would then attack the borders. Heartland command rejected the proposition of fighters escorting the bomber to the target, as more aircraft would increase the risk of detection. Instead, radar jamming systems would be employed to keep the Bomber aircraft from being spotted. Bomb Drop Late in the evening on the 10th of October, two FM16 Strategic Bombers, one carrying the bomb called "Alex", the other carrying the observation crew called "Stone", took off from a hidden airstrip in central Arctika. The mission was predicted to take around 4 hours. The flight to the border was uneventful, with the bombers crossing into enemy territory on schedule. Unfortunately for Heartland, on the ground, friendly armoured forces had crossed into no-mans land in order to engage enemy recon units, who had been observing the massing of troops from an abandoned fortification. This attack provoked United Republic units to cross into no-mans land to counter-attack, and the alarm along the front line was sounded. With all defences on high alert, the Heartland Bombers were about fly through an increasingly hazardous area. The radar jammer worked according to plan however, and the Bombers managed to pass over the front line undetected. With about 300 miles of clear sky to the target, most of the danger of the mission was over. Fate would see that the Bomber never finished its mission. After the alert was sounded on the ground, United Force's scrambled air support to deter the armoured threat. While on their way to the battle, a flight of four ABX210 Fighter Bombers, completely by chance, spotted the bombers heading in the other direction. The Republic pilots noticed that their on-board radar and communication systems were non-functioning, and believed the two Heartland Aircraft to be on an electronic interference mission. With no way to contact command about the recent development, two of the fighters continued onto the ground battle, the other pair went after the bombers. Their visual contact was by sheer luck, and without radar, they could not effectively track the defenceless aircraft. For the next 20 minutes, the jets scoured the sky for the bombers, but their visibility was limited as it was the dead of night. Approximately 40 miles from the capital of Solomon, when the ABX210 pilots were about to give up hope, they saw the bombers on their thermal imagery. It had dropped altitude, and seemed to be making a beeline to the capital. With no Air-to-air missiles due to their outfitting for a ground attack mission, the fighters strafed the two enemy aircraft with their 30mm cannons. "Stone", the bomber carrying the scientists, exploded after the fuel ignited, splitting the bomber in two, and sending both halves careening to the ground. "Alex", which was carrying the bomb, received critical engine damage and lost hydraulic control, and began descending rapidly in an uncontrollable spin. In an attempt to prevent the bomb from falling into enemy hands, the crew tried to arm the weapon, but in the extreme G-force of the decent, the engineers on board either passed out or were unable to reach their controls. In any case, the bomb bay doors could not even be opened due to damage sustained, as the pilot fought in vain with the controls. With no power, control or concious crew, the bomber crashed into ground near the large town of Kilroy, only 25 miles from the capital city outskirts. The mission had been a failure; the capital of Solomon was unharmed. But that was the least of the troubles for Heartland. As morning broke on the 11th of October, intelligence officers learnt that the Sunrise Device survived the impact; prior to dropping the bomb, the device would be jetisonned from it's hardened radiation-shielded container. With the engineers being unable to open the doors, the device had remained inside it's shell which protected it from the impact, allowing it to be found by United Republic Civil Defence Units. It, along with the wreckage of the bomber, were known to about to be handed over to the military for inspection. Operation End Planning On the 11th of October, a plan was haphazardly put into action which was developed on the fly as an opportunity to salvage the bomb from enemy hands. A Heartland commando unit was to enter the town of Kilroy and seize the bomb from the United Republic Authorities before the military could claim it. Tasked with this operation were Team Black (H; Varatik Balka), an elite special forces unit that had been on stand-by since the start of Operation Dusk's End. The leader of the unit, a man known only as Patchals, was promptly briefed by high command on his new task. The objective of infiltrating the enemy country, stealing back the bomb and returning it to Heartland lines seemed impossible. Their first problem was actually getting into the United Republic. An airdrop was out of the question since last night's operations had placed the enemies anti-aircraft units on high alert, and a ground attack with the support of friendly units would be extremely bloody and may even deplete the soldiers that Heartland were relying on to push in when Solomon was finally destroyed. Attempts had been made in the past to tunnel under the enemy lines, but had learnt the hard way that not only was no-man's-land peppered with both friendly and enemy mines, but that a huge subterranean concrete wall built all the way down to the bedrock had been completed by Heartland in ERA 09-64, with the objective of stopping the United Forces from conducting a similar operation. Patchals also considered attacking a weakly defended point along the United Republic coast and travelling inland to Kilroy from there, but the United Republic's coastlines stretched for hundreds of thousands of miles; by the time the team had travelled from wherever that point may be, possibly thousands of miles, the bomb would have been long gone; taken to an unknown location by the United Forces. Patchals therefore decided that the insertion was to be based on deception and baiting. He devised a plan that friendly Heartland Forces, through bogus radio traffic, would simulate a large assault on the United Republic. This would prompt a reaction force from the enemy forces to enter No-man's-land and face the attack. During the battle, Team Black, wearing enemy uniforms, would drive a convoy of United Force's combat ambulances through No-Man's-land and into the border. As most of the men in Patchals' team could fluently speak the enemy's language, and with the rest masquerading as wounded soldiers, he believed that they could bluff their way into Republic lines. From there, still wearing enemy uniform, they could drive to Kilroy seemingly unopposed. If needed be, they could steal enemy identification papers by force, as Patchals and his team had unparalleled combat skills, and could easily match any checkpoint guards or Civil Troops they engaged. With the plan set, Patchals and 14 other Team Black commandos, a mixture of 9 Men and 5 Women, personally picked for their excellent combat, language and tactical skills, prepared for the operation. Dressed in enemy combat uniform and driving three SCP 1 Troop Carriers mocked up as ambulances, they waited for the attack to commence. The Operation Begins At dawn of the 13th of October, Heartland forces began their advance in no mans land. Although they were using false radio traffic to fool any United Force's intelligence officers that the attack was much larger than it actually was, the Heartland task force was still very large; over 4000 soldiers of many different divisions, including Infantry, Armour, and Air Support were part of the assault, as well as a massive artillery bombardment of the enemy fortifications. As predicted, United Forces moved ground units into no-man's-land to counter the assault. As they began to take casualties, the stage was set for Patchals' Team's false flag Infiltration of the United Republic. At 8:00 in the morning, when the battle was in full swing, the ambulance convoy started the perilous 10 mile drive across no-man's-land. Although Heartland forces had been explicitly instructed not to fire upon any enemy medevac convoys in fears that it could be the disguised friendly troops, the threat of being engaged, both by Heartland and United Republic forces was very possible. Nevertheless they made their way through the fight, avoiding areas of heavy combat in order to maintain their profile. Using a radio frequency obtained from the interrogation of a captured UF intelligence officer, they were able to contact United Republic command and warn them that a friendly ambulance convoy carrying critically wounded soldiers was returning to base through the field of fire. Miraculously, the convoy made its way through the pitched battle unharmed, and neared the highly guarded checkpoint. When they were only a few hundred metres away, disaster struck. A Heartland artillery shell exploded on the road in front of the lead ambulance, causing it to swerve off the road, and into an unmarked minefield. As it plunged off the track, the vehicle was caught in a fireball as the mines exploded. The two other vehicles, who had naturally followed the lead transport off the road, were unable to stop in time, and were also hit by the explosion. Patchals, who was in the passenger seat of the first vehicle was knocked unconscious. In the confusion of the explosion, some of the surviving soldiers saw an advancing United Republic infantry unit and believed they were firing their weapons at them. Despite the fact they were actually launching smoke grenades to cover them from an Heartland crossfire, the commandos, leaderless and wounded, began to return fire. Although they were signalled to cease fire by the advancing enemies, as their cover was still intact up to that point, that did not do so. In disarray, the United Forces' soldiers returned fire, and after a heated fight, the resisting commandos were all dead. The wounded and deceased bodies of Team Black were hauled from the wreckage by the United Force's infantry. They were confused as to what had just occurred; not only had they been fired on by their own troops, but troops that were wearing bloodied bandages, and were lying on stretchers moments before they got up, seemingly unharmed, and began firing. It was not long before the puzzle was pieced together. The commando who had been driving the lead ambulance had died in the minefield, and on his body, Republic medics found a photograph of his family. The picture had been taken on the steps of the Heartland 4th Gvardia Academy in Central Heartland, revealing the entire unit to be Heartland spies in disguise. From the minefield, the 6 surviving members of the unit were taken to a Republic base, 20 miles behind the front lines, for questioning. This operation, much like the Bombing raid before it, had appeared to have failed. Operations Behind Enemy Lines During the interrogation, that lasted 2 days, one of the commandos was executed. The survivors were tortured, but the UF interrogators failed to gain any information on their mission. However, in a fatal flaw of security, Patchals managed to kill one of his captors with the torture equipment, and steal his weapon. Fighting his way through the base, he managed to rescue his surviving comrades, and made an escape in a light armoured vehicle. He and a team member sustained wounds in the gun battle that ensued when trying to exit the base, but they both survived. The United Forces attempted to dispatch helicopters to track the enemy vehicle, but found that most of their aircraft had been sabotaged by the commandos. All they could do was raise the alarm, and try to catch the commandos before they disappeared into the nearby cities. On the 16th of October, 24 hours after their escape from their UF captors, Patchals and his team, using deception and stealth, had managed to evade their pursuers and arrived at the city of Kilroy. Patrols inside the city had been increased in response to their presence, but they managed to get inside the Civil Defense Headquarters undetected. There they learned that the fragments of the bomber were to be shipped to an engineering plant in Greenland later that day, but the bomb had been taken to a nearby research facility 2 days ago on urgent request. Coincidently, the facility was located in one of the central districts of Solomon. The commandos decided to quickly make their way there, this time in a civilian vehicle, and without their UF army uniforms. Heartland Total-War Offensive Meanwhile on the border, Heartland Forces were preparing for Total War. The destruction of the city had not occurred as the commanders had intended, but were presented with a unique opportunity for attack. Firstly, the Team Black unit loose in the Norta Countryside had forced the UF to re-purpose significant manpower resources from their front lines in order to try and find the infiltrators. Because their capture was at first kept a secret by the United Force's interrogators, and that they were all dead, conflicting reports about the size and threat level of the unit convinced UF Command that eliminating them was a top priority, sacrificing security at the border. Secondly, the UF had learned that the Heartland forces had tried to mask their numbers with misinformation, trying to get them to believe there were more soldiers attacking than they actually were. However, over the last few days, Heartland had secretly massed a huge fighting force, with additional reinforcements drawn in from their western front, and North Zicia. The UF had fallen for a double-bluff, and in a fatal error, had lessened security on the border, leaving only a fighting force capable of defeating the small army that they believed Heartland to have. With these missteps realized by Heartland, they took their chances and began the assault on the night of 16th. Crossing through no-man's-land, their advance was costly, but by daybreak on the 17th they were advancing inland towards the capital. In a desperate attempt to halt the invaders, the UF scrambled all available soldiers in defence, bringing in troops from the far off Greenland and Drebland territories, and re-purposing the soldiers sent to look for Team Black. Despite their best efforts, the advance could not be halted, and although significantly damaging their numbers, the horde of Heartland infantry, armour and air power continued their assault. Team Black in Solomon By the 19th of October, the remainder of Team Black had infiltrated the city of Solomon. Due to the Heartlandian offensive, parts of the city had began to evacuate, and although this presented an opportunity for Patchals' and his men to slip past in the confusion, it also revealed their need for haste. During the night of the 19th of October, as the Heartland forces drew closer to the city, Team Black located the research facility where the bomb was being kept. They geared up for an assault, and at midnight, they stormed the labs. A fierce gunfight ensued as the five person team fought through two stories of UF troops. With the element of surprise gone, they had to be quick in their seizure of the bomb. However, upon reaching the facility doors, they found that UF elite soldiers sent to guard the device were lying in ambush. Two Team Black soldiers were immediately killed, with Patchals and his remaining crew members retreating to a housing block. There, they fought against an increasing number of attackers for hours, during which another of Patchals' team was killed, before finally running out of ammunition. In a final desperate attempt to continue their mission, the commandos attempted to escape into the sewers, but before climbing down into the tunnels, the two soldiers were shot several times from snipers before dropping down. With both the commandos bleeding out, it appeared that the mission was over. Patchals tried to give his comrade medical help, but he soon died of blood loss. With his last ounce of strength, Patchals did what he could to stabalize his own wounds before lowering himself into a drainage passage, with the back of his jacket attached to a nearby metal bar, so that only his nose and the top of his head were showing above the rushing water, before passing out. By the 20th of October, the Heartland offensive had been slowed, but was not completely stopped. A huge fighting force had begun their encirclement of the capital city, but were taking heavy losses. With the nearest units a mere 20 miles from the outskirts of the city, it appeared that the Heartland forces had a very promising chance of capturing the capital. Destruction of Solomon In the early morning of the 21st of October, Patchals finally woke up from his unconscious state. He had prevented death from blood loss, but had contracted pneumonia from being in the freezing water for days. Despite his injuries and illness, he vowed to finish his mission. The United Forces had searched the sewer and recovered the body of his ally, but had been unable to find him. Climbing out of the sewer, he found that the research facility was in the process of being evacuated. Of the many military trucks that sat waiting in a convoy outside, Patchals knew that the Sunrise Device had to be on one of them. Using stealth, just outside of the sight of his enemies, Patchals strangled a nearby UF soldier unconcious and took his uniform and ID Tag. He was the gunner of a SDL 53 Fighting Vehicle that was protecting the convoy, and so he took his place in the tank. Patchals had initially planned to kill the crew and use the tank armament to destroy the stationary, and so more alert, convoy, but after finding out the tank had no commander who might recognise him as an imposter, he decided to wait for a more opportune time of attack. The convoy moved off, and began to navigate the crowded street, filled with civilians being escorted out of the city. In the distance, Patchals could hear the distinct thump of artillery bursts, and the sound of a battle being fought. At a busy crossroad, the convoy was forced to a complete stop. Patchals made his move. Taking the sidearm from the holster of his stolen uniform, he shot the driver of the tank, who was turned out of the vehicle and looking out of his hatch, in the head. Ducking back inside the vehicle, he turned the 25mm Main gun on the other armoured vehicles, and managed to knock them out. As UF Soldiers scrambled from their vehicles in order to return fire, Patchals sprayed them with Light Machine Gun fire from the coaxial gun. At the front of the convoy, a Republic soldier with an anti-tank rocket managed to fire off a shot before he was killed. The rocket slammed into the front armour of the tank and set it on fire, forcing Patchals to abandon the vehicle. In the confusion, the civilians crowding the streets exited their vehicles and began running for cover. The chaos of a of stream of hundreds of non-combatants prevented nearby UF soldiers from reaching or firing upon the remains of the convoy. Quickly searching the vehicles, Patchals found the bomb in a case strapped to the bed of a truck. In an amazing feat of strength, and despite this injury and physical state, he dragged the case on his own to a nearby shop, and barricaded the doors. Alone in a surrounded building, Patchals opened up the case. His mission was to deliver the bomb to his Heartland commanders, but that was no longer an option. Desperate not to let the device fall back into enemy hands, he armed the weapon. The chain reaction started, and in a few minutes, the bomb would reach critical mass and detonate. The UF troops could do nothing to disarm it. Leaving the bomb in the shop upstairs, Patchals decended into the cellar of the building. Almost collapsing because of exhaustion, he found a manhole grate in the floor of the basement, and jumped down just as United Forces' troops breached the shop upstairs. In the cold rushing water again, Patchals' body had taken all it could, and with a final breath, he passed out, and was carried along with the water, unmoving. The Heartland Army was still advancing. Commanders could see with their own eyes the outskirts of the city, and the tall buildings that lay in the distance. Shortly after noon, the Sunrise Device exploded, and the city was wiped out. In the initial force of the explosion, a two mile wide crater in the centre of the city was created, and a towering fireball shot out in all directions, toppling buildings and instantly incinerating people in the crowded streets. The blast continued for miles in all directions; engulfing the city and its surroundings. On the outskirts of the city, both United Republic and Heartlandian troops were caught in the explosion. In a massive miscalculation of the yield of the bomb, hundreds of thousands of military personnel on both sides died in an instant. Shockwaves in the immediate aftermath of the explosion toppled blocks of buildings. Hot winds carrying deadly Gamma Radiation flooded the area, contaminating all it touched. High frequency microwaves emitted by the bomb, literally cooked people alive, sucking all the moisture from their bodies in a few seconds. Entire districts caught fire, and across a 100 square mile area, all life was effected by debilitating bursts of deadly radiation and colossal heat. All communications were knocked out by the powerful electro-magnetic field generated by the blast, and across the front, battlefields on which fought millions of soldiers mere seconds before fell completely silent. Aftermath Heartland had succeeded in destroying Solomon, but at a cost far greater than anyone had expected. In a colossal misstep in planning, no one had thought that Team Black would activate the bomb, and had moved their armies in regardless. In an equally fatal flaw in the scientific phase, the lack of testing of a device as powerful as the one used in Solomon had prevented them from knowing the true yield of the bomb. Heartland troops, who knew nothing of the bomb, were not prepared with information about fallout or the dangers of the device, and were helpless in preventing their losses to radiation exposure. With their numbers severely thinned, and their connection to command severed, the vast Heartland armies were stuck in the wasteland that now surrounded and contained the destroyed city. Their plans of controlling the entire United Republic were vaporised along with their army of millions caught in the blast zone. Despite the confusion, the United Republic managed to set up new defensive lines along Greenland, Drebland and the unaffected parts of Norta, allowing their republic to continue. However, a vast portion of their land and the tens of millions that inhabited it were lost to the radioactive clouds. With the land unusable to Heartland, they too also managed to set up a front line along the unaffected areas, but like the United Forces, they had suffered an insurmountable loss of manpower, and were still in danger, as winds carried the radioactive dust over the continent. Battles in the Devestation Although it is unknown what precisely happened after the bomb, it is widely known that the fragmented forces of both sides, lacking orders, began to pursue their own objectives. Some fighting forces entered the city in order to secure parts of it or search the rubble for survivors, while others held up in the countryside or outskirts of the city, or even attempted to retreat back to friendly lines. Some significant battles were fought between the United Forces and Heartland in the destroyed city. Although intelligence is hard to gather, there is evidence to support that some major conflicts for various objectives occurred in the ruins. *Battle of the Black Castle: 22nd October-10th December ERA 10-20. Surviving Infantry and Armoured units of both sides mass and fight for control of the Norta Parliment Building, known as the Black Castle, as well as the surrounding area. It is considered to be one of if not the most bloody battle of the campaign. *Battle of the Nova Stronghold: 22nd October-30th October ERA 10-20. Heartland ground forces with tank support attempt to eliminate and occupy the Nova Building in the district of Fritzieger, which has been reincforced by United Republic defenders. *Tower Hill Onslaught: 28th October-2nd November ERA 10-20. United Forces Infantry engage Heartland survivors in urban combat in an area known as "Tower Hill". Thousands fight in the battle but fail to dislodge the enemy troops, and fall back due to mounting losses. *Victory Market Siege: 3rd November-6th November ERA 10-20. Gvardia Units controlling the historic district of Victory are engaged by the remnants of the UF's 16th Mixed Command Division. *Battle of the Marauders: 2nd November ERA 10-20-19th January ERA 10-21. A rogue Heartland infantry unit battles against the United Forces as well as members of its own army for control of food stores in the South-East of the city. Result Millions of lives were lost due to Operation Dusk's End, and many changes had to occur as a result, but the overall situation stayed the same; the stalemate between the three superpowers remained unbroken, but the consequences of the operation did not go unfelt. Political Consequences There was a power struggle within the fragmented United Republic Government. The once powerful and prosperous country of Norta was decimated, leading to supply shortages across the alliance. The Norta Seperatist Governmental Party emerged in ERA 10-21, and since then began to gain favour with the people of the devestated country, threatening a radical change of power on the United Republic. Heartland continued its research into supernuclear weapons despite its tactical failure and the resulting loss of millions of friendly troops. The country had expended untold amounts of resources into the capture of Norta and the continent, and had not succeeded. There was little tactical offensive activity from Heartland over the following years. Widespread grief and unrest lead to riots throughout the country. Even the Great Empire was not untouched by this massive conflict. Fearing the threat of these new superweapons, the Imperial Government brokered a secret pact with the United Forces to reduce military action between the two countries; not a peace treaty, as the two countries remained at war, but both the powers mutually believed that neither of them could continue their existence if Heartland succeeded in producing more supernuclear weapons, and cut a deal to cooperate at a certain level. Geological Consequences The entire continent was polluted with radioactive fallout. Widespread crop failures led to food shortages, and cases of cancer, cataracts and other diseases increased dramatically across the world. A plague known as the Solomon Virus also affected large portions of the population, causing an illness of a scope larger than the world had ever seen. Large areas of the Norta-Heartland plain became an arid desert. Grass and other flora died and gave way to a scorching wasteland brought about by a nuclear summer. The dry atmosphere that covers the effected region also resulted in the degradation of green areas surrounding ground zero. In addition, this increased the rate of desertification of the Celerta-Sahria plain in Greenland, Norta and North-East Heartland. Additional Consequences Even years after the disaster, it is believed that isolated military forces still operate in the ruins of Solomon and the irradiated section of Norta. The lack of the development of effective, and widespread production of, radiological-protected equipment has prevented exploration of the ruins. Both the United Forces and Heartland Army consider the polluted area to be hostile territory. The Supernuclear Disaster-Relief Unit was set up by the Norta Armed Forces in ERA May ERA 10-21. It's role is the treatment and reintegration of United Forces troops still lost in the blast zone. Encouraging their own forces to travel out of the destroyed region, their efforts have been somewhat limited. Heartland Forces are out-rightly refused treatment and sent to prison camps, and a large portion of the alienated UF troops see the SD-RU as a ruse by a supposed Heartland occupation Force that has invaded and taken control of the Republic. Upon learning of the destruction caused by the Sunrise Device, Stanstev Poice suffered a mental breakdown. A weapon he had designed ended up being responsible for not only the deaths of millions of United Forces troops, but also a similar number of Heartland soliders, and civilians on both sides. Already seriously unwell from radiation exposure and his disability, Stanstev lived out the rest of his days in alone in mental torment, believing that his work had started the inevitable apocalypse, and the ending of the world. Patchals most likely died by drowning or in the explosion that followed shortly after his decent into the sewers. Although most of the drainage network below Solomon survived complete destruction, it is unlikely that a person could survive the radiation that flooded the tunnels in close proximity to the epicentre of the blast. As the story of Patchals and Team Black began to emerge, survivors have reported that in the immediate aftermath of the explosion, they saw a lone man swimming to the bank of the Solomon Reservoir and disappearing into the city. As of yet, there is no concrete evidence supporting these claims, but the legend is popular within the Heartland army, and is almost synonymous with the disaster that was Operation Dusk's End. Category:Conflicts Category:Premier Timeline